Tricycle.



W. W. ANNABLE.

TRICYCLE.

AlPLIoA'rIoN FILED Immo, 1911.

1,006,518. Patented 001211911.

f 41n Y 14 W (0 @Mme/whoa W. W. ANNABLE.

TRICYCLE.

APIPLIUATION FILED PEB. 20, 1911.

1',0G6,5 1 8. l Patented ont. 24, 1911..'

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPM CO..wAsHlNaroN UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEioE.A

WARREN W. ANNABLE, 0F GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF.ONEFOURTH T0FREI) Z. IPANTIIND, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

TRICYCLE.

Patented Oct. 24, 1911.

Serial No. 609,638.

To all 'whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, WARREN W. ANNABLE, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State ofMichigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inTricycles; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in tricycles and more particularlyto the steering wheel of the same and the parts connect ed therewith,and its object is to provide the same with improved means for journalingthe wheel, improved spring supports for the same, improved steeringmechanism, and to provide the device with various new and usefulfeatures hereinafter more fully described and particularly pointed outin the claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in whichFigure 1 is a side elevation of a device embodying my invention; Fig. 2a plan view of the same; Fig. 3 an enlarged detail of the hub of thefront wheel and parts connected therewith shown in elevation with aportion broken away; Fig. 4 a horizontal section on the line 4 4 of Fig.3; Fig. 5 a vertical section on the line 5*.5 of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 anenlarged detail of one of the springs and parts connected thereto; andFig. 7 a sectional detail of the lower part of Fig. 6 further enlarged.

Iiike numbers refer to like parts in all of the figures.

1 represents a portion of the frame or sills of a tricycle the forwardends of the same being bent inward toward each other and spaced apart toembrace lthe steering wheel of a tricycle and are reduced in width andterminate in sockets 5 formed of a suitable casting and secured to thefront end of the same.

2 represents a radius rod pivoted at lthe rear end to the side rail land extending beneath the same to a point directly below the' socket 5.Attached to the front ends of the radius rods and connecting the same,is a cross bar 3 having flat parallel upper and lower sides on which baris mounted the front wheel. On each end of this cross bar and above thefront end of the radius rod is a coiled spring 4 extending upward withinthe socket 5. The ends of this spring are secured in place by plugs 13inserted therein each having a spiral recess to receive the end of thespring and securely attach the same to the plug. A bolt 14 extendsthrough the upper part of the socket 5 intothe upper plug 13, andanother bolt 14 extends through the radius rod 2, the end of the crossbar 3 and into the lower plug 13 to secure these various parts in place.

Surrounding the middle of the cross bar 3 is an innenring 7 having itsperiphery provided with a ball race. Extending hori# zontally acrossthis ring and engaging the flat upper and lower sides of the cross bar 3are horizontally disposed disks 6 integral with the ring 7, andextending from the respective disks to the ring, are tubular mem` bers17 to receive a pivot pin 19 on which the disks and ring are pivoted toturn about a vertical axis. Oppositely projecting from the lower part ofthis inner ring are rigid arms 8 to which are connected rods 9 by whichthe ring is adjusted about the said axis to guide the vehicle by turningthe front wheel to the right or left as occasion requires, said rods 9being operated by any convenient means, not shown.

The front wheel has the usual outer rim 12 provided with the usualpneumatic tire and radial spokes 11, the inner ends of which spokes aresecured by suitable bolts between a flange xed on an outer ring 10surrounding the ring 7 and a separate flange 10a. In the ring 10 is theouter ball race and a removable ring 15 to admit of inserting the ballstherein. Between the ring 7 and the rotative ring 10 are inserted aseries of balls 16 which provide a ball bearing between the rings 7 and10. Between these rings and at each side of the balls is inserted apacking 18 to protect the balls from dust and to retain a lubricanttherefor.

In operation, the springs 4 will yield to shocks dueto unevenness of theroad, the ball bearings will permit the wheel to rotate freely about theinner ring and at the same time hold the same in the same plane againstany lateral strains. The disks 6 embrace the flat sides of cross bar 3and thus serve to take the lateral strains upon the inner ring and dustand grit are eft'ectually kept out of the ball races by the packings 18and lubri-

